Hog Harness vs Pro fit adjustable

[Jim Lapenta]

I just got my DSS rig and am glad I went with the HOG harness. After talking with a buddy who is DIR and Tobin at DSS, along with alot of the opinions on this board, it made more sense. After two dives and one pool session I see it was the right choice. I was concerned about getting it off and on during classes etc. No worries. It is actually easier to doff and don than my jacket bc.

 

[Ron Brandt]

I was concerned about getting it off and on during classes etc. No worries. It is actually easier to doff and don than my jacket bc.

I had a student on a check out dive last weekend that proved that to me. I put her into a HOG harness for her check out. She had used a standard BCD for her pool work with another lds. She removed and replaced the kit in under 2 minutes.

Ron

 

[SangP]

Comfort harness:
Pros:
Slightly more comfortable outta the water.
Easier to adjust and make on the fly changes.
Slightly easier to perform emergency removals.

Cons:
More expensive than a simple hog harness.
Takes longer to dry
Underwater there's no real advantage in terms of comfort
Plastic quick release. Haven't see one break yet but personally I don't like it.
Bulky
Boob Straps... only one company produces a comfort harness without those things, Oxycheq.

Me I love my hog harness, it's simple and should it get damage it's like $15 to replace... no biggie.

SangP

 

[cecilb63]

Can someone tell me the pros and cons of both of these? Why one over the other.
Thanks.....

I have both the profit and a one piece hog-style.


The pro-fit allows on the fly adjustment of shoulder straps and also a quick release buckle for the shoulder straps. Also the design allows the shoulder straps to cross over when leaving the plate which may be better for smaller sized people.

I never use the on-the-fly shoulder adjustments, nor do I ever use the quick release shoulder buckle (well ok, once I did).

The pro-fit uses velcro to attach the shoulder straps to the quick release buckle. The velcro seems to be wearing out on mine.

I find the silver waist buckle of a hog easier to tighten than the plastic quick release buckle style of the pro-fit. I never tighten my pro-fit waist because it's too hard to crank, maybe I should try some wax or something.

The pro-fit doesn't use stiff webbing which I don't like but the flexy webbing may be more comfortable for some people. I do find the waist straps to be too floppy for my taste and sometimes they get caught up in shoulder straps and stuff where a stiffer belt would be less prone to this.

I think it is easier to weave and initially adjust the hog than the pro-fit. Definitely the hog is easier to understand


I will replace my pro-fit with a single piece of webbing, keeping the DSS hardware except for the waist quick release which I'll replace with a regular old buckle. One person I know used a waist buckle on one side of shoulder straps for quick release and reports it works well.

 

[PerroneFord]

You can cross over the shoulders on a hog rig as well. Just did it for someone on Saturday.

 

[BigTuna]

I've used both the DSS pro-fit and a hog harness on my plate.

Me, too. I found the same things as as dsteading. I started with the PF with my DS. It developed that the soft webbing always rolled up when I put my arms thru to don the rig. Plus the shoulder strap buckle pinch. So I wove my own Hog rig. The stiffer webbing makes it work fine.

For both the PF and Hog, I still have to be extremely careful whether not to stress the DS vent or wrist gear, whether doffing or donning. There's a doff/don technique, which is to squat below the rig so you can lift your arms up thru the shoulder straps.

IMHO, rescue class experience in the PF says that I can't expect people to figure out how to remove me from my PF or Hog. Shears or a knife would be mandatory. Tell your buddy!

 

[SangP]

For both the PF and Hog, I still have to be extremely careful whether not to stress the DS vent or wrist gear, whether doffing or donning. There's a doff/don technique, which is to squat below the rig so you can lift your arms up thru the shoulder straps.

BigTuna,

Could you kindly explain what do you mean by stress the DS vent or wrist gear?

SangP

 

[CompuDude]

Comfort harness:
Pros:
Slightly more comfortable outta the water.
Easier to adjust and make on the fly changes.
Slightly easier to perform emergency removals.

Cons:
More expensive than a simple hog harness.
Takes longer to dry
Underwater there's no real advantage in terms of comfort
Plastic quick release. Haven't see one break yet but personally I don't like it.
Bulky
Boob Straps... only one company produces a comfort harness without those things, Oxycheq.

Me I love my hog harness, it's simple and should it get damage it's like $15 to replace... no biggie.

I haven't used a Hog harness or a Pro-Fit, so I can't comment directly on those, but I agree with most of these comments on general principle. I will say, however, that as far as chest straps (or boob straps!), my Dive Rite TransPlate comes with one that I used ONCE before taking off. Nothing really wrong with it (across a male chest, at least), but I kept forgetting to close it and didn't really see any benefit underwater. I ended up with a nice little spare strap I ended up using elsewhere for some camera gear.

In sum, I don't know that it's entire fair to say only OxyCheq makes an adjustable harness for backplates without a chest strap, when at least one other company makes such a harness with what can only be described as an optional chest strap.

Beyond that, while the hog idea intrigues me, the padding on my TransPlate is nearly non-existant (and I doubt it is at all buoyant), and while I dive in one wetsuit all the time at the moment, I do look forward to the ease with which I will be able to adjust the harness once I get a dry suit later this year and switch back and forth. Additionally, an instructor I spoke to said the main thing he likes about the TransPlate and other DR adjustable harnesses (the only brand we happened to be discussing at the time) is the quick release on the shoulder strap, because it makes getting out of a dry suit extra easy without worrying about valves getting caught.

 

[BigTuna]

Could you kindly explain what do you mean by stress the DS vent or wrist gear?

Sure. I mean hanging up my DS shoulder vent or my wrist mounted compass or depth timer on the shouder straps when I insert my arms. I can't get both arms thru without some degree of hangup unless somebody assists me.

 

[BigTuna]

One more thing about the PF. I found that it was awkward to pinch the backstraps' quick releases open, due to their stealth location behind my lower back. With cold water wetsuit gloves on I could barely locate them, and when my finger tips were very cold I couldn't pop them open. So much for easy doffing.